The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-08-17
TIMELY TOPICS FOR FARMERS.
HOW TO 30 PAYING WORK AT THIS
SEASON.
Suggestions OF Interest. from an Authori-
tatiyc Source.
(w. Jones in Southern cultivatorJ

(W. L.Jones in Southern Cultivator)
August is usually a month of compar
ative rest on the Southern farm. The
, arduous labor Of cultivating the two
most important crops is pretty well over
on every weli-rnanaged farm, excepting,
possibly, il the extreme northern edge
of our peculiar territory. Although
July lst is literally the midway station
in the years calendar, August lst is
really nearer the dividing line between
tie work Of cultivation and the laoors
of the harvest. Yet there may be some
work that may protitably be done in the
continued cultivation OF the cotton field.
SHALL FLOWING CONTINUE?
1t depends on the condition of the
plants and seasons. If the crop is in a
growing condition, and fruiting. well,
but is rather later in development
than it should be, the cultivators, or
sbaloW-running sweeps and scrapes, may
be run over the fields every ten days,
particularly after rainfall sufficient to
form crust. Root-cuttiDg and mangling
must be carefully avoided, as the effect
will be to cause tie plant to shed its
fruit and then take on g new growth too
late to amount to anything. The object
now should be to prevent the shedding
of the squares already formed, and en-
courage their development into blooms
aud bolls, since very few that make their
appearance after the tenth Of the month
viii escape the first killing frosts OF
| October. Late cotton should be en-
couraged to keep up d vigorous growth,
not that the additional development of
the weed will increase the number Of
bolls by the formation of new squares,
but that the squares and young bolls
may be FASTENED to full size and earlier
maturity. Where sweeps and scrapes
have been used during June and July, #
cultivation be continued nov, it is better
to run the implement in the same furrow
previously last run, and thus avoid
plungiDg the plow into the ridges of soil
cast up at tie plowing. One furrow in
the middle using twenty-inch sweep,
scrape or cultivator, will generally be ell
that is row required.
TOPPING COTTON.
Many experiments have been made in
topping cotton in the last forty years,
and the results and conclusions have
been very diverse. Sometimes it pays;
often it does rot; sometimes it INJURIES.
No rule can be given that will always
work. The usual object in topping is
to prevent further growth of weed and
forms after the plant has as many as it
can sustain, and when new forms would
be too late to mature; the idea being to
induce the plant to throw all its vigor
into tie effort to develop the forms al
ready visible. The object, according to
our observation, is rarely attained by
merely removing the growing top OF the
plant, but may often be accomplished by
topping or looping off the growing ends
OF the branches, as well es the leader.
In most cases where topping cotton re-
suited in increasing the yield it might
have been noticed that the work was
done rather early-some time in July
Every one has observed that stalks of
cotton that We're topped By the bite of
the plow-horse early In the season are
often made much more fruitful thereby.
In such cases the effect Of the early top
ping was probably to push the branches
of the stalks into more vigorous growth,
causing more rapid evolution of forms.
On the whole, We have very little faith
in topping cotton as pa;t of regular
system.
PULLING FODDER.
The propriety of pulling fodder, |. e.,
whether it does not injure the grain more
than the fodder is worth, to pull the
blades as is usually done, is one of the
questions that has been long mooted,
but never settled. Experimenters differ
in results and conclusions. Possibly
each is correc: in the results Of his ex-
pertinent. but wrong in his general con-
clusions. The only true conclusion is,
that pulling the blades sometimes does,
and sometimes docs not. injure the grain
more than the value Of the fodder Sc
cured 1t is commonly said, in COM
parison with the animal system that the
blades Of corn are the lungs of the plant,
by means of which the plant takes in
nutriment from the cir; and as an animal
will at once die if deprived of its lungs,
therefore the corn will be injured by re-
moving the blades-a very singular and
altogether unwarranted conclusion. If
it is said that the plant will die if de-
prived of its blades-lungs-the smile
would be perfect and the conclusion cor
rect. II is fact in vegetable economy
that tie leaves or blades of plants con-
tinue gleen and succulent for time
after they have ceased to be at all neces-
sary to the perfection OF the fruit or
seed. Familiar illustrations of this law
may be found on every hand. In the
case OF the corn plant, under favorable
and natural conditions OF soil and sea-
son, the ear OF corn-the fruit Of the
plants among the first parts to show
signs OF maturity. The tassel and silk
perform their Offices, and are the first to
fade; then the husk or shuck, and the
enclosed arain. This succession will be
noted particularly when corn is grown
on fresh lands or soils abounding in
humus. On worn and exhausted soils,
or soils deprived of vegetable matter,
and easily Influenced by drouth, the
blades often "dry up before the grain
is fully matured. In such cases it is IN
doubtly true that to hasten the stripping
OF the blades, without reference to the
condition OF the ear, woald result i'll
more OF less injury and loss OF weight OF
grain. Oi this every farmer must be his
Judge. BE governed by the condition
Of the ear, and not the blades altogether,
] .-.o II